A Bit of This

Hi. How you been?

The Antlers Part I

Jen and I headed to Akron Saturday night to see The Antlers play. It was at a place called Musica, and it wound up being a really cool spot. We met up with my cousin Johnny who is always down for something new, and leaned against the back wall of the venue (for Jen's sake) to watch the show. Jen and Johnny were both good sports, but weren't in love. I, on the other hand, was. I'm a sucker for what The Antlers do, and they sounded amazing.

There was a couple standing beside me that looked to be in their mid twenties. She, a little pixie of a thing, and he a dead ringer for a young Thurston Moore. After the show was over, I immediately turned to talk to him.

"Anyone ever tell you that you look like Thurston Moore."
"Yeah, I've gotten that a few times."
"Yeah well, I'm going home and telling everyone that I saw The Antlers with Thurston Moore, ok?"
"I wish I were Thurston."
"Yeah, who doesn't?"

We stood around and talked for a few. Turns out his name is Mike and he drove in from Cleveland to see the show. We chatted about Shoegaze, why people bother coming to shows if they're just going to stand around and talk during the set, and how it's a shame Spiritualized peaked so long ago. It's rare finding people that dig the same music I do, so it was cool to chat. It would have been cooler if he actually had been Thurston though.

The Antlers Part II

Technically, this was the first show for Weezy. After it was over, Jen told me Weezy started kicking up a bit after the band finished their opener "Kettering" and kept it going for awhile. According to the good folks who post baby facts out there on the interwebs Weezy has been able to hear for a couple of weeks now, though it most likely sounds something akin to what you and I would hear when swimming underwater. Still, I was excited getting her out to her first show already (especially since I'll have to wait so long before we can do another one together).

Then, the new inexperienced father part of me kicked in, and I worried that it'd be too loud for her. I called Jen's doctor's office to ask if it'd be an issue. I could hear the nurse's smile in her voice.

"Just keep her out of the mosh pit and she'll be fine."

Sophia Jerky

While reading about umbilical cord care I got a little grossed out, and was telling Jen about it the other day as we were riding around in the car. Just the idea that it basically turns black and rots off is disturbing. I've read that it can be a little stinky, and then eventually it just falls off, leaving a cute little belly button behind. It creeps me out that we could be changing her one morning and "Pop!' off it goes onto the floor where the dogs pounce on it like so many Honey Nut Cheerios.

Jen doesn't like it when I read.

Weekend

My wineglass must be broken. Every time I reach for it, it's empty. I don't understand.

Jen just said "I've got to stop being such a bad Buddhist. I've got to have something to teach our kid. I mean, if they're not going to have the fear of hell to keep them in line, what do we really have?"

We tried a caramel au beurre salé (or in my language a "Salty Caramel Crepe") from "A Taste of Belgium" at the North Market this afternoon. Yes, please.

Every year we get a few ants on the floor of our pantry. I put down a couple of ant baits, and within 24 hours they're gone. They are timely ants, but have weak constitutions.

Jen sees me typing, but keeps talking. I really don't mind for the most part.

The hummingbirds are fighting over the feeder in the front yard.

Made a big dinner tonight: Italian Herb Crusted Grilled Chicken, Stuffed Shells, and Steamed Asparagus. I don't cook often, but enjoy it when I do.

I haven't had meat (that I don't know the exact source of) for several months. Friday, Jen and I go out to dinner, and she had me try her meatloaf. I was chewing for a few delicious seconds before I remembered and had to spit it out in a napkin.

This morning we sat out on the porch for a few hours drinking coffee, me with the paper, Jen with her book. After a week of pretty intense humidity, this weekend has been perfect. It was impossible to be outside and be in a bad mood.

Really looking forward to TrueBlood tonight. The first season was a lot of fun, and the books are good fast reads. Can't wait to see what they include from the books, and what they change for the new shows.

The woman across the street burps loudly and spits occasionally.

We went out for a walk Friday night and encountered a man peeing in the bushes alongside the trail. His young daughter was ahead on the trail waiting for him where he thought she couldn't see him. Classy.

When I was a kid, my mom and grandparents would sit around and talk about the different birds that came to their feeder, and I thought I'd die with boredom just listening to them talk. Today we saw an American Goldfinch, and we both got excited. I need to write a horror story, listen to some Sonic Youth, or read a Chuck Palahniuk novel to try to regain some cool credits.

Mmmmmm...Full of Gnatty Goodness

Woke up late this morning. Really late for me. I rolled over and saw the clock said 9:30 and was a bit surprised. I know, some of you are thinking that's not even close to being late, but I can't help it. The older I get the more I get pissy about wasting a day in bed. Still, I managed to stay in bed for awhile longer to put a dent on "No County for Old Men". I've been wanting to read the book since I saw the film, and am not disappointed so far.

I let the dogs out to pee, and followed along to pick poop up out of the back yard. It felt so amazing outside that I went in and told Jen to get ready because there was no way in hell we were going to stay inside on a day like today. We got ready and headed to our favorite park on the North Side for a walk. After being there for a little bit, we got lazy and sat and watched ducks and geese on the lake. Not wanting to go home yet, we grabbed some Subway and went back to the park to eat (and play around on the deserted playground for a bit).

Two stops for planting supplies later, we were home to do a bit of yard work. I tried to pull as many of last year's leaves from under our bushes in front as possible while Jen planted some little pots with flowers. I get the feeling we'll be dragging those things in and out for the next several weeks until it's warm enough to leave them out all night.

Then, I finally got to go for a bike ride. It's my first this year, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a bit painful. I felt every little hill, and I was pretty fucking far away from being fast, but I made it to my office and back in one piece, so I can't complain too much. Well, except for when it comes to the bugs. The gnats were everywhere and I swallowed more than my share with my out-of-shape-mouth-breathing. I even had one lodge itself into the corner of my eye and refused to get out for half a mile. Good times.

I should be able to start bike commuting some this week, though I doubt my legs will want to tomorrow. Maybe Tuesday and Wednesday though. After that it's supposed to rain.


(Behold the beauty that is my commuter bike. Equipped with water bottle and rear tire rack to hold all my work stuff. Yeah, I'm that cool.)


Jen and I finished the night by hanging out here in the den. She played around on Facebook while I listened to some records (Jesus & Mary Chain, Wilco, etc.) and had a glass of wine.

It wasn't exciting, but if I could live every day of my life like this, I would.

Sleep Deprivation and Crazy Crazy Nights

I slept forever. After a week of mostly getting in four or five hours of sleep, I crashed for at least eight last night. I don't know what my deal is lately. It's like if I actually go to bed, I might miss something great. So, instead of sleeping and being able to approach the next day with a fresh state of mind I:


1 - Troll the Internet looking for good deals on LP's.
2 - Play games.
3 - Facebook.
4 - Attempt to fix our desktop PC (which I finally succeeded at).
5 - Reading.


So, it's not like I'm robbing myself of sleep in order to change the world or do something that is so amazing that I just can't stop to go to bed. No, I'll sit there doing one of the above mentioned five things, and fight sleep. I'll nod off, and then force myself to refocus so I can turn another page or read another paragraph. Not sure what my deal is.

I do know I need to knock it off next week though. I've got tons of shit to do at work and being a zombie doesn't help matters.

---

Jen and I caught the first showing of "Revolutionary Road" this morning. I'm not normally drawn to a movie with Leonardo, but I'm a big Kate Winslet fan (Little Children. Jesus, that's just good) and I will always watch what Sam Mendes does. It was a tough watch (especially for 11:00 in the morning) but it really was beautiful.

After our traditional post movie lunch of a cup of soup and half a sandwich we went our separate ways for a bit. Jen went for a haircut and I went record shopping. I went back to Magnolia Thunderpussy and picked up a few new LP's and then decided I'd check out another store called Ace in the Hole about ten minutes from there.

"Ace in the Hole" blew. I know what you're thinking: With a name like that, how is it possible it wasn't the coolest record store ever. Shockingly, it sucked.

While they did have a couple of cool first pressings of some more obscure Bob Dylan albums, the rest of the store was filled with enough 70's rock and Jam Band crap to fill three average stores. Since I wasn't in need of either of Asia's hit albums, I said fuck it and headed to Best Buy. I'm trying to shop local, so I'll keep trying some other stores around the area. Still, I was glad I stopped by there since they had a couple of discs I've been wanting.

And here I am, tearing it up on a crazy Friday night. I am really going to have to start doing more interesting shit to keep all three of you still reading. I'll come up with something soon.

My Boredom Seeps Into My Blog

Big weekend of doing a whole lot of not much, and it was just what I needed. After all the family fun of the holidays it was just good to hang out around the house, watch some movies, and detox a bit.

Yesterday was nice enough for us to get out for a walk, so we tooled around the park. Jen, her head down, focusing on not letting her nose run in the chill, me craning my neck at every turn looking for deer. I don't know what it is with me and deer. It's not like I haven't seen hundreds of them in my life, but everywere I go I find myself scanning tree lines and the edges of our surburban patches of woods for them. When I walk in the woods, I'm always on the lookout for them to the point where I'm not watching where I'm going, or I begin to veer off in the direction I'm looking. It's a bit obsessive, and I'm not sure I understand it.

So, I looked for deer. Saw none.

The rest of the weekend was just the standard issue stuff. Watched some movies (Stepbrothers, Gone Baby Gone, Wanted), some DVR'd Animal Cops (I have no faith left in human beings. Fuck all ya'll), listened to some music (I highly recommend the Fleet Foxes) and did our shopping for the week.

Well, I gotta be up at four in the morning (mourning?) to try to get in a workout before I get to the office. I just wanted to be here in case you showed up looking for something to read. Sorry, it's not more exciting. I'll make up some shit later this week. It won't be true, but it'll be better reading. And what do you care anyway? It's all about passing the time.

Hugs and Kisses,

Stephen